I am trying to resend this message from my yahoo account, because I am not sure whether it went through from my columbia e-mail account...Please let me know if you see it posted on xmca...I do apologize if this message was posted earlier...Thanks in advance.ElinaHi Mike et al,The idea of the course is wonderful. I also strongly support the diversity of forms of teaching as well as evaluation. Last semester I was teaching a course at Teachers College, Columbia University on "International perspectives on cultural-historical psychology and activity theory". This graduate course was part of the Internship program for graduate students from the Department of Curriculum and Teaching, TC. The activity part was participation at ISCRAT. It was a very interesting experience. So course-internship link worked for us.I think there are various meanings of the word international, I was mostly interested to trace with the students the various venues the development of CHAT took in different
countries and research communities. I told my colleagues in Russia that I discovered a different Vygotsky when I started reading the translations in English. And it is not simply an interpretation through translation, but the whole issue of a different dialogical space for some of the key ideas. For example, Vygotskian ideas discussed in Russia by Boris Elkonin in a dialogue with ideas of Florenskiy and Zinchenko's recent explorations of Vygotsky-Shpet link are quite different from Vygotsky-Dewey dialogical space in the US, to mention some of them. It seems to me that it makes a great difference for the meaning construction, in a dialogue with what other "theoretical and practical provinces" the ideas of CHAT are shaped, within frameworks of what traditional disciplines (anthropology, education, semiotics, etc.), research methodologies, and within what socio-cultural-political contexts. CHAT developes through our constant questioning to explore the boundaries of the concep
t, and I believe teaching CHAT should involve these questions to the foundations of CHAT.
What do you think?Just a few comments to contribute. I am all for the international/polylogical/multicultural/multidimentional discussion/teaching CHAT. I do not know how Russian my inner speech is after 8 years in US...:-), but I am definitely fluent in my native language(Russian)and in communication with Vygotskian community there, so would like to join other Russian voices...Elina. Quoting Mike Cole <mcole@weber.ucsd.edu>:> > I had a chance to chat with Judy who is en route to a new> locale. When she> alights she can post her summary of the aera-related issues,> about which I> think we are agreed.> > This note concerns a "course."> > Here is my amateur take on this issue, which is frought with> possibilities> and potholes.> > 1. There almost certainly should be no "center," no one place> where credit,> in whatever form, is given. > > 2. I assume different people will get credit in different ways> depending upon> local circumstances. Here are some of the possibilities that
> could all> exist simultaneously:> > 1. > Local universities (UCSD, UCSC, Lesley College, The Autonomous> U of Madrid,> CUNY, Roskilde U...... whatever wherever) could offer the> course to their> local students as part of their local curriculum. Local people> would> probably meet from time to time in additon to internet> mediated interactions.> > 2. UCSD extension could be induced to give this course,> connected to regular> course at UCSD. This costs some money, but is not Harvard unit> costs by a long> shot. People who take the course this way (at whatever> extension school, I> mention ucsd only as an example) get a transcript from that> university saying> they took that course.> > 3. People could simply participate and at the end get a> certificate of> participation.> > The cognisenti among us probably know more routes. My thought> is that whatever> works locally for participants works for the system as a> whole. Perhaps there> are cases where this could cause trouble. If
so, let us know.> > As per Jim's note, if this topic is of limited interest we> could set up> a separate list serve for those who are interested in> participating. If> grad students want to write to jim, fine. Just keep others> posted when there> is something relevant to post.> > Like that> mike> I have on my table a violin string. It is free. I twist one end of it and it responds. It is free. But it is not free to do what a violin string is supposed to do - to produce music. So I take it, fix it in my violin and tighten it until it is taut. Only then it is free to be a violin string. Sir Rabindranath Tagore.Elina Lampert-ShepelChairperson, General Education DepartmentGlobe Institute of Technology, 2nd floorNew York, NY 10007212 349 4330 ext. 114 (w)
"To a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail."
M.Postman Conscientious Objections,1988, p.33
Elina Lampert-Shepel
Chairperson, General Education Department
Globe Institute of Technology, 2nd floor
New York, NY 10007
212 349 4330 ext. 114 (w)
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